


Pinky Promise?

by Shyntax



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Drowning, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Suicide, if you can count the airport scene as fluff then sure fluff and angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 14:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyntax/pseuds/Shyntax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"We'll meet again, right, Nanase?"</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <i>"Yeah. I'll see you soon."</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p>What if Rin never made it to Australia?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pinky Promise?

**Author's Note:**

> angst is not a style i'm good at

"We'll meet again, right, Nanase?" Rin beams at the other boy, holding out a pinky finger.

Haruka nods and entwines his pinky finger with Rin's. "Yeah. I'll see you soon."

It's been five years since the two had made their promise. Five years since Rin left for Australia. Five years since Haruka's found himself alone.

Haruka turns the bath tap. Icy water begins pooling in the tub below. He sits on the floor by the side of the tub and drags his hand lazily across the surface of the water. It's so cold it makes his fingertips numb in a minute. Haruka was never one for cold baths, but he's too busy thinking to bother to change the temperature. Besides, he remembers Rin liked cold showers. This is close enough.

While it's filling up, Haruka pulls out his cell phone. He opens up a new text message to Rin. 'Hey,' he writes. 'I'll be there soon. Wait just a little longer.' He sets his phone on the counter by the sink. It rings as soon as he puts it down, alerting him he received a message back, but he doesn't bother to pick it up and check what it says. He's pretty sure he knows what it says anyways. Instead, Haruka turns off the tap and steps in.

He doesn't undress. Doesn't want to. Too troublesome, he thinks, for something like this. He shivers as he makes his way in, the chilly water stealing the heat his body. It tickles his neck as he sinks in. He watches his tie float on the surface for a second before it drifts down below.

Haruka sits in silence, thinking about Rin. He wonders how he is now. Does he still look twelve? Is his voice the same high tone? Is he still the same passionate, headstrong boy Haruka remembers? Or had he changed?

Haruka mentally constructs an older Rin. He left exactly five years ago today. That would have made him seventeen, just like Haruka. Rin's most likely taller than him. Messy hair. Muscular. Oh god, muscular. The dorkiest smile on his face, showing off his shark-like teeth. Calling out "Haru!" in a deeper voice with a familiar cheerful brightness to it.

Yeah. He'd probably be like that today.

Haruka tries and fails to wiggle his fingers. They've frozen in the water. They look blue. Almost time, Haruka thinks.

Haruka closes his eyes and sets his mind back five years. He'd never forget that day.

* * *

Rin looked excited, animated as ever. He bounced up and down, waiting in the lines, and his smile never left his face. But there was something about him that day that made it all seem forced. Haruka noticed this, but didn't say anything while their families were still around.

Haruka had walked with Rin as far as he could go without being an actual passenger. When it was time for Rin to leave, they had a mere minute alone together. Rin had bid his mother and sister goodbye before finally turning to Haruka.

"Well," he murmured. "This is it."

Haruka had only nodded, afraid he would lose what little control he had left if he opened his mouth.

Rin looked at him sadly. "...um...hey, Haru. You're not gonna forget about me, right? You're not gonna find a new best friend when I'm gone?"

Haruka responded to this, shaking his head wildly. "No! I could never forget about you, Rin. Never."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

This made Rin seem a little happier. "I'm...I'm glad, Haru."

An announcement came on. Rin's flight would be boarding soon. "So..." the redhead said. "I guess this is goodbye now, huh?"

Haruka met Rin's gaze. The slightly taller boy stared at him, a melancholy look to his eyes that sparked a tiny impulse in Haruka. The black-haired boy quickly brought Rin's face closer to his, pressing a soft kiss against the other boy's lips. When they separated, Haruka spoke. "No. Not goodbye. Just 'see you later.'"

Rin blinked before his mouth spread into a wide grin, this time completely genuine. "Yeah!" He holds out his hand, pinky finger raised. "We'll meet again, right, Nanase?"

Haruka smiles and nods, linking pinkies with Rin. "Yeah. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon!"

_(That small moment of happiness disappeared within hours. Haruka remembers it all too well.)_

On their way back home from the airport, Haruka and his family had been listening to the news. Halfway to their house, a sudden burst of static clogged the radio, followed by a man's voice.

"Breaking news — flight AN-188, which left for Sydney, Australia just hours ago, has crashed into the Pacific Ocean." Haruka's chest tightened as something in his mind recognized the flight number. "Chances of survivors are zero. A passenger list has been released."

Haruka's usually bored eyes shot open, the rest of his body freezing as the man read off the list of names.  _There's no way_ , he thought. _We said 'see you soon.' We'll see each other again. We have to. We promised._

"Asano Kazuya. Asano Rai." _There's no way._ "Hanamura Daisuke. Hayato Jin. Koyama Aoi. Koyama Ikuto. Koyama Mirai." _No._ "Maki Hana. Matsumoto Kei. Matsumoto Shuujin." _No._

"Matsuoka Rin." Haruka couldn't breathe.

* * *

Haruka finds his fingers very, very blue by the time his consciousness snaps back to the present. His right hand has somehow moved into a pinky-promise position, awaiting another pinky to join it and seal the promise. Haruka can't help but smile at this. Soon. Just a few more seconds.

Haruka sits there, body losing all color of life with every passing second. He closes his eyes and imagines a happy, laughing Rin for the last time.

He takes a deep breath. It was a promise. He has to make sure he keeps it. Haruka slides down in the tub so the back of his head meets the icy water.

"I'll see you soon, Rin." Haruka whispers to himself before laying his head underneath the water.


End file.
